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Anisochronous rhythm

Sound
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A metrical or rhythmic pattern in which stressed beats occur at irregular intervals, creating tension or unpredictability in the line.

Detailed Definition
Anisochronous rhythm describes poetic meter with irregular or uneven time intervals between stresses, rejecting strict isochrony for a more speech-like or expressive cadence; it appears in free verse or experimental forms prioritizing natural prosody over metrical regularity.
Example
Example in poetry:
Anisochronous rhythm: Poetry with irregular beat durations, as in free verse like Walt Whitman’s “I celebrate myself, and sing myself,” where line lengths and stresses vary unpredictably, defying isochronous (equal-time) meter.
Additional Notes
Rhythm not based on equal time intervals between stressed syllables. Opposite of isochronous. Characterizes most natural speech and much free verse. English verse tends toward anisochrony unlike strictly timed meters.
Also Known As
Uneven time rhythm Variable duration Irregular temporal flow Asymmetric timing
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